Bux

Too little, too late. There's a well respected Rueda that's aged in wood -- Belondrade y Lurton. I believe it's 100% verdejo. It's probably well above that budget and not at all to my taste anyway. The Gazela, I believe is a Portuguese wine that's very low in alcohol, as well as taste, but it's really not bad on a hot day, especially when you consider the price.

That's my understanding too but if I recall correctly at lunch there was nothing posted (but in truth I wasn't truly searching) and at dinner only the little chalkboard on the northwest outside wall. ← That's odd, invariably the French adhere to the letter of the law, unless of course, they decide not to do so at all.

. . . . Sake and wine durring the same meal at the same table is entirely appropriate - and delicious. . . . . ← My memories of a home cooked meal in Tokyo include not only beer, wine and sake on the table but a number of whiskies, brandies and other liquid intoxicants. "Wine" doesn't do it justice. There were a number of wines from the California wines we brought to the wines from Italy that our host receives each year from a client whose house in Tuscany he designed. Dinner began at six in the evening and we left at six in the morning. I've had sake recommended by the sommelier as an accompaniment to a first course in a French restaurant in NY.

I thought French law required a menu to be posted outside every restaurant. It's a great idea and wish it was more the custom here. That said, I'm the sort of person who is happy to enter a restaurant I know, or even one that comes highly recommended by the right source and just have the chef feed me most of the time. There have been some posts by others who are quite up in arms against such table d'hôte practices and tasting menus in general. At the high end, as cooking becomes more creative and more personal, I suspect we're going to see more of this sort of dining. At the lower middle end, it's a way to cut prices and with the knowledge before hand that my choices will limited, if I have a choice at all, I'm still frequently happy to have a good meal and save a few euros in exchange for dining without the power to choose between equally appealing items on a menu. Au C'Amelot was a good example of this. Perhaps it still is. At any rate, I'd be happy to have Camdeborde feed me what he wants to cook and charge what he he thinks it's worth if he's still true to the spirit in which he opened la Regalade.

That's quite interesting. I noticed that he and his wife also appear to own a sushi restaurant with a Japanese chef. (For those that haven't followed the link, the chef's wife is Japanese and he's spent some time cooking in Japan.) The proof is in the tasting, but some of the dishes seem less restrained in their fusion than I might like. It's not the Japanese influences that struck me as such, but rather the coating of chorizo on a saddle of lamb.

By the way, I sometimes feel that too much of a fuss is being made over the creative places in Barcelona and that the more traditional restaurants don't get enough credit. I would balance my meals and go out of my way to eat at Ca L'Isidre. I haven't been back in some time because I always want to try new places, but it remains as one of the most satisfying meals we've had in Barcelona. This is not to say you should ignore the more creative places.

The "dumbness" of the show is not related to the featured ingredient. They all seem to have the abilibty to add foie gras to the product and turn it into foam if they want.

It might, but not for the right reasons. Let's just hope Bourdain is laughing in his beer and pumps his profits into his own new show.

Cuba, the restaurant, doesn't look all that formal, although I suppose in comparison with Cafe Havana it might. I see they even have a Sandwich Cubano on the menu ($6.95). This place has escaped my notice before and doesn't seem to have merited any posts on the forum. Has anyone been there and got something to say about it?

You're worried about too little food? As I recall, some of the dishes are very small, but there were enough courses and enough food for me by the end of the meal. Then again, I'm more apt to complain about dishes that are too large, than about not getting enough food. I'll let you know. I'm going back before you get there. It will be the first time for my wife. If she eats everything, your husband may be hungry.

Isn't that how Tony describes the crews that have worked for him?

Alvaro. welcome to eGullet and the Spain forum. It's clear you know the Pais Vasco much better than I do, but I can't help but agree with you on Hondarribia. We stayed in the Hotel Obispo, one of the three historic buildings that are now hotels in the old part of Hondarribia. The parador is one of them and there are two others down the street, but I wouldn't miss the fisherman's quarters where most of the bars and restaurants are located. It's not a long walk between the two areas. We made a small effort to try some tapas in the evening, but after a large lunch at Martin Berasategui, we didn't really have much appetite. A rural guest house sounds like a good restful alternative, especially for a longer stay.

Better, fresher and probably less expensive. I'm a great fan and loyal customer of Di Palo's, but Di Palo's doesn't make sandwiches. Nevertheless, I don't think of IFC as a restaurant. It's a place that makes sandwiches and has been adding tables on the street.

Not surprising since I've always understood it's inspiration was a place called Cafe Habana which was in Mexico City.

For someone contemplating a culinary career outside Spain, I still wouldn't discount the advantage to a stage at one of Spain's best restaurants. In fact, I suspect the chance to work in one of the best Spanish restraurants might be the most important thing you could accompllish before leaving Spain in terms of your education.

I don't recall that Cinc Sentits had a bar. I am sure however that Jordi and Amèlia will be most hospitable to solo diners in search of an interesting and rewarding meal. I can't think of anything more hospitable to solo diners than Amèlia's wonder pairing of wines to food. It was clear she'd accommodate diners who wanted a glass of wine with the meal and those who wanted a wine matched to each course of a tasting menu. Although it was slow on the afternoon we were there, I'd try and reserve in advance. In general I think it's a good policy to reserve in advance, even if it's a call that same afternoon in any good restaurant.

No two restaurants are the same, not is any good restaurant a substitute for another restaurant, nut Aux Lyonnaise reminded me more of why I fell in love with Paris in the early sixties than any øther restaurant since La Régalade. It's pretty much old fashioned traditional food, but manages to avoid clichés and any staleness to the food, so far for us. I'd love to try Camdeborde's new place.

I take it you didn't see the show in which potatoes were featured. It has nothing to do with budget, it has everything to do with not taking the food, and the talent to prepare it, seriously.

We actually spent a pleasant overnight in Logroño about a year and a half ago. It is a large city and we got lost trying to find a particular hotel, but since we didn't have a reservation that wasn't so great a problem once we calmed down and parked the car in an area where we saw several hotels. The first hotel we looked at was a bit above our budget. The second was well below, but after taking a look at the room which was was clean and functional, and noting that the hotel had a garage, we took the room. When we checked in, the clerk told us that we were near the old city and that it had a lively bunch of tapas bars. It was far short of what San Sebastian had to offer, but in spite of some drizzle, we spent enjoyable evening bar hopping. The light rain was only a problem because many of the bars are very small and crowds spill over onto the narrow streets making it quite festive. It was a Sunday. I don't know if that is a more or less active than usual night for such activities. I don't mean to imply that it's a destination city, just that it's not such a bad place, especially if the old city is within walking distance. If you're going for the food, and since you're here, I assume the food is important to you, I'll suggest that Echaurren in Ezcaray has some of the best food in La Rioja. See the Bar "Las Cueva" In Logroño? thread as well as perhaps doing a search for more related information. As for "cooking classes at a Sociedad Gastronomica mentioned by several (US-based, I think) travel agents," I tend to wonder if that's going to be worth the price. I may be off base, but I don't think one can buy one's way into such an experience and when it's offered for sale through travel agents, I suspect it's not the real thing. That's just my prejudiced opinion. These societies are about the fellowhip of cooking with friends and not about offering classes to outsiders. Perhaps one of our members can offer some insight or even inside information and correct me, if I'm wrong.

Accepted. After all, I've made more visits to Montreal than to London or Rome. I've been there more recently than to L.A. or Vienna. I have in fact, gone out of my way to get to Montreal, but never gone out of my way to avoid it. I'm in this thread more to learn than to advise. I think my best advice was that it's hard for any of us to second guess what someone else will like anyway. As little as I know about Montreal, I am less able to guess what will impress or please another New Yorker. I'll still bet on a Montreal bagel. It's not that it's necessarily a better thing than a NY bagel, it's just that NY bagels aren't bagels any more. They're just another variety of a roll without the distinguishing character that made a bagel a bagel.

Thanks. This appears to be a very interesting and useful recommendation. From the web site, it appears to be a rather mundane looking place that might be catering to tourists and one I might easily pass up were it not for a personal recommendation. It's web page even reinforces that appearance by calling attention to it's ability to cater to groups. Of course the casual visitor to Roses might easily give a Rafa a pass were it not for the word of mouth. Of course Rafa now has a cult following and very few tables. It would come as no surprise that there are better values in off beat places.

My impression is that WD-50 is more interesting than trendy. Perhaps, we may be using "trendy" differently. I think of a trendy place as one where the food is very secondary to the ambience. I don't think Dufresne gets a lot of diners interested in being seen or in seeing who else is there. They go mostly for the food. Of course there are still people who have to go at least once just because of what they've heard of it.

A nice rare pigeon breast will do fine and make me forget about "red meat."

Sorry, I respectfully disagree. About 99% of the coffee in the US sold outside is absolutely AWFUL. But that's what Americans like. Dunkin Donuts (UGH) coffee is actually thought of as high quality! Yes, there is good coffee to be had, especially in New York City, Pan, but in general the deli, cafe and restaurant variety coffee here is brutal. Now in France, while not everywhere is great, the general level of coffee quality is about 50 times better than in the US IMHO. I guess it also boils down to how fussy one is, but since I live in the US, Parisian coffee is a welcome change for me. ← I'd rather drink typical Parisian coffee than American coffee, but 50 times horrible may still be horrible.

I can't imagine driving an hour and a half after a Spanish dinner that's likely to end well after midnight, but consider a nice afternoon's drive. Admittedly, we have been known to snooze in the car on occasion after a big lunch. At the same time, with the knowledge that we've had pretty good luck in Catalunya, my guess is that there are already some worthwhile, if unstarred, restaurant closer to Roses that have already been mentioned in this forum. Campsa and Michelin are both useful in this regard. They don't know just the stars and Michelin tends to under rate Spanish restaurants.